MAYOR’S RESPONSE TO HOMELESS IS A TYPICAL POLITICIAN’S RESPONSE

Apparently, the “No pandering to the bleeding heart” editorial (Roses & Raspberries April 1) has not influenced the determination of 16-year-old Kimberly Glover from Menifee, who was so touched by the plight of homeless women everywhere she actually did something about it. However, Scott Mann, the mayor of Menifee cited a Los Angeles Times editorial as support for his approach to the homeless situation in his city: “I do not oppose giving our homeless a “hand up” through faith-based and nonprofit organizations.” Oh — like Kimberly Glover? In other words, kick the can down the road, pass the buck, and all the other cliches that apply to such a political response to human need.

Also cited as his reasons to oppose AB 5, “The Homeless Person’s Bill of Rights” is Mann’s interpretation of “life-sustaining activities that must be carried out in public spaces because of homelessness.” Absurdly, our mayor mentions eating. How many “acceptable” people do we see eating a burger or doughnut, or snacking on fries in public?

As for his abhorrence to urinating in public, many golfers have taken their turn in the trees on the green. And as for his arguments that homeless amass possessions and collect trash to recycle — hopefully, we all recycle. And don’t we all have possessions we deem as treasures and indispensable to our lives? The homeless carry these in backpacks and grocery carts and the more fortunate among us have closets in which to store our prized things — “prized” being relative.

As for the organizations, religious or otherwise, that the homeless are supposed to herd toward, it is more complicated than it seems.

A while ago in my attempt to help the local homeless, I discovered that the churches and nonprofits only accepted them during certain times of the day. And these places were in Temecula, Perris and Hemet. This is Menifee. I learned that for the newly homeless, panhandling was their way to earn the bus fare to one of these cities and its shelters. And yet, the homeless were bound by hours: they could not enter before a designated time and had to be gone by a certain time the next morning. But then where do they go? How many bus fares can they afford? How do they clean their clothes, wash themselves and be presentable enough to go for a job interview? Even a “greeter” position at one of the corporate home improvement stores requires an applicant to be presentable.

AB 5 is a flawed bill, but at the least it conjures a sense of responsibility to our fellow man. And that is what’s best about this effort by Assemblyman Tom Ammiano.